Civic Engagement Of Young People Research Articles

Connecting differential psychological motivations for WeChat use with civic engagement: the significant role of bonding and bridging social capital

PurposeThe primary objectives of this article are to systematically explore whether and how certain WeChat use motives could lead to bridging social capital, bonding social capital and civic engagement among young people.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected from a large-scale online survey of 1208 young people in mainland China. Zero-order correlation analyses and structural equation modeling were carried out to examine the corresponding hypotheses.FindingsObtained findings show that WeChat use for informational and social motivations are positively associated with bonding and bridging social capital. Moreover, bonding social capital could mediate the relationship between WeChat usage for informational and relational motivations and civic engagement.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, this article underlines the unique social and technological affordances of WeChat by exploring mobile social media use and how it would contribute to the quality of democracy by fostering young people's engagement in civic life. Practically, bridging and bonding social capital play significant roles in enhancing young people's civic engagement, which could be the meaningful resource for mobile social media designers, managers and government officials.Originality/valueThese obtained outcomes underlined the vital role of these newly emerging communication technologies in fostering democratic involvement and production of social capital in contemporary socially networked society.

Civic Engagement of Young People in Malaysia

Civic Engagement of Young People in Malaysia

Social capital as a factor in the development of civic engagement of students

Introduction. In modern conditions of becoming of a civil society and the constitutional state the public attention is concentrated on modern youth whose civic activity affects how the tasks set for society and the state will be implemented. Purpose setting. The future of Russia is largely determined by the values that are emerging today in the communities of schoolchildren and students. In this regard, the objective of forming conceptual representations about the processes of formation of civic engagement of young people becomes to be relevant. The purpose of this study is to analyze the social capital of the individual as a factor influencing the civic activity of young people studying both at school and at university, including those who are representatives of the Russian movement of schoolchildren. Methodology and methods of the study. The paper provides a theoretical systematic and meaningful analysis of such variables that form social capital as the value attitudes of young people, the level of trust in various agents of influence and the strength of communication with them. Results. The conducted correlation analysis confirmed the hypothesis that exists a relationship between these variables and the object of study. It is shown that modern youth is largely focused on solving their own problems, focused on the "inner circle", is not inclined to trust people in general, lacks solidarity values, concentrating on individualistic interests, and this significantly hinders their inclusion in the manifestation of civic activity. The exception is the representatives of the Russian movement of schoolchildren, who have a high level of trust in the state, patriotic ideals and willingness to interact with public organizations, they are prone to civic responsibility and social activity. Conclusion. It is necessary to create mechanisms for the inclusion of young people in various communities to solve socially significant issues, to strengthen the values of solidarity, as well as to form a unified value system in the youth environment, in which not only universal values, but also patriotism would occupy a significant place.

Students’ movements of Russia in the era of globalization

In today's world young people become the object of close attention from various socio-political forces, since an unformed worldview and insufficient experience in social and political analysis represent the very field where one can try to nurture the most exotic interpretations of the reality surrounding us. This article attempts to show the specifics of youth activism in the age of globalization using the example of youth movements for human dignity. In our opinion, stimulating and supporting young people's civic engagement, whether spontaneous or organized into youth movements, has the greatest potential to successfully mobilize young people toward purposeful, conscious and active participation in society and the state. We are convinced that virtually all pro-social youth movements are in one way or other movements for human dignity.

Can WeChat really foster young people's civic engagement? Unraveling an underlying mechanism from the social capital theoretical perspective

PurposeBuilding upon social capital theoretical foundation, the principal purpose of present research is to construct a conceptual research model and uncover the intricate relationships between WeChat usage, social capital and civic participation behaviors among young people.Design/methodology/approachA large cross-sectional valid data from 1,238 young people in mainland China were gathered to examine the hypothesized research model. Descriptive analyses, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were sequentially undertaken to determine dynamic interrelationships among main constructs.FindingsThe empirical findings demonstrate that WeChat usage positively impacts young people's social interaction ties, the guanxi network and shared goals. Moreover, social interaction ties and shared goals are positively associated with their online civic engagement. Furthermore, the guanxi network is positively associated with both online and offline civic engagement.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, this research is the first to explicitly explore the influence mechanism of WeChat use intensity on different dimensions of individual-level social capital and civic engagement. Practically, these obtained results can be beneficial to the comprehending of whether and how WeChat is a resource for social capital and civic involvement.Originality/valueDespite mobile social media, especially WeChat, has achieved immense popularity in contemporary mainland China, the potential influence of this emerging technology use on individuals' differential dimensions of social capital and civic engagement has not been systematically investigated. The study may not only offer fresh insight into innovative features of WeChat but also contribute to broader controversies regarding the impact of mobile-mediated communication on individuals' daily civic lives.

The role of religion in civic engagement of young people from diverse cultures in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Young people have ascribed a key role in social development, and promoting positive youth civic participation is a shared global agenda. Youth with a religious faith tend to be more concerned with social and public issues than their non-religious peers. This empirical study investigates the relationships between religious affiliation and civic engagement outcomes in adolescents from diverse Hong Kong cultures. The psychometric properties of a customised questionnaire instrument were first examined and subsequently administered to 8559 youth (6th – 12th graders) from diverse cultural backgrounds. The findings obtained from one-way MANOVA reveal that religious affiliation, gender, grade level, socio-economic status (SES), parental education level, perceived importance of religion, and spiritual health are all statistically significant predictors of civic engagement. MANCOVA results unfold differential effects of various religions on civic engagement after controlling for family SES and parental education. Additionally, two-way MANOVA reveals the interaction effects of religious faith and the perceived importance of religion on civic attitude and the concept of good citizenship of students. Implications for future research on promoting youth civic engagement from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds are discussed.

ГРАЖДАНСКОЕ УЧАСТИЕ МОЛОДЕЖИ В МЕСТНОМ САМОУПРАВЛЕНИИ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ПОКОЛЕНЧЕСКОЙ ТЕОРИИ

In recent decades, there has been a clear tendency to reduce the participation of young people in political processes, which is manifested, inter alia, in the low turnout of young people in elections and a decrease in the number of young people who are members of a political party. This is especially acute at the local level, leading to a decrease in the participation of young people in resolving issues of the local community, and, as a consequence, a decrease in civic activity, the formation of protest behaviour. According to the theory of generations, this situation is typical and can be described by the generational cycle of N. Howe and W. Strauss "Rise - Awakening - Decay - Crisis". The aim of the research is to analyze the civic engagement of young people in the context of generational theory in the context of age groups. Most of the respondents consider their civic position active. The authors come to the conclusion that there are no significant differences in the civic engagement of different age groups of young people. A significant part of young people do not know about the activities of local government bodies and the directions of their work. In this regard, it is necessary to organise educational events and implement projects aimed at involving youth in the activities of local self-government bodies, for a more active participation of young people in the implementation of projects at the local level. Younger age groups of young people are more willing to organise various events aimed at meeting social needs, while older age groups either prefer to take part in such events or are limited to financial participation.

What Social Scientists Have Learned About Civic Education: A Review of the Literature

Historically there has been a relative dearth of social science research into civic education—even in political science, a discipline that had civic education as one of its founding objectives. This is partly due to the mistaken impression that civics instruction has no effect on civic and political participation, a conclusion that was once conventional wisdom but has since been refuted. More and more evidence has accumulated that well-designed civic education—both formal and informal—has meaningful, long-lasting effects on the civic engagement of young people. Existing research finds four aspects of schooling that affect civic learning and engagement: classroom instruction, extracurricular activities, service learning, and a school’s ethos. Furthermore, state-level civics exams can positively affect knowledge about politics and government. The unifying theme that arises from this burgeoning literature is that effective civic education can compensate for a dearth of civic resources in the home and community. However, the renaissance of research into civic education is only just beginning, as more needs to be done. The existing data are too limited, and randomized studies are rare. Truly advancing our understanding of civic education will require a large-scale, multi-method, interdisciplinary effort.

Meaningful Youth Participation as a way to achieving success

Youth participation is a key component in many youth sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programs. We analyze the results of Operational Research on Meaningful Youth Participation in a youth SRHR program in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, and Pakistan. Meaningful youth participation was found to have positive effects on empowerment and civic engagement of young people; on adult staff and organizations’ capacity to institutionalize meaningful involvement of young people, and provide youth-sensitive SRHR interventions; and achieve program objectives. Conditions enabling meaningful and structural youth participation are needed for positive effects, including mandates and policies on structural and fair youth representation at all decision making levels; opportunities for young people to have decision-making responsibilities, and to share power with adults; building young people’s capacities and understanding; welcoming and safe social environments where both young people and adults feel valued, respected, encouraged and supported.

CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUTH CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN LIEPAJA CITY

Youth civic engagement is an essential precondition for the preservation of democratic values and the existence of civil society. The implementation of the competence approach in the education process in Latvia provides as one of the key priorities of pedagogical work – encourage students' civic engagement and personal responsibility, developing students' thinking and self-initiative, the skills to be accountable to the citizens of society with the development national, historical and civic consciousness and understanding of social processes, as well as to promote their social activity and persistent habits in dealing with their peers to share solving multi-level problems related to the future of the local community and sustainable development. The aim of the research is: on the bases of theoretical research of civic problems and the analysis of the results of the carried out survey (quantitative data processing), to identify expressions of civic engagement of young people (from 9 to 12 grade students) in Liepaja (Latvia) focusing on different categories: (I) self-esteem of civic participation; (II) the willingness of young people to take responsibility; (III) self-realization of youth civic participation (IV) level of awareness among young people; (V) interaction of families and students in the context of the formation of a responsible position. The survey results reflect: relatively high self-esteem of civic engagement of students; low political engagement and political system scores; the untapped potential of young people in the context of civic engagement at school and city level.

Required civics courses, civics exams, and voter turnout

Despite attempts at using civic education to increase the civic engagement of young people, education policy is slow to adopt the recommendations of research and great variation exists within the United States in how schools deliver civics instruction. We hypothesize that when states make civics requirements more uniform and demanding, statewide civic participation among young people increases. Using state-level data about civic education requirements and voter registration and turnout from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), we find no evidence that a mandated civics course increases registration or turnout, but we do find a positive relationship between having a state-mandated civics exam and both registration and turnout among young people. We conclude that accountability policies could make a difference in the delivery of civic education at the state level.

Los efectos de la comunicación política en el compromiso político de los jóvenes en la elección presidencial mexicana de 2012

Do modern forms of political communication generate political engagement or rather political disaffection among young citizens? While media malaise theories argue that media and campaigns messages have a negative impact on citizens’ political involvement, cognitive mobilization theories contend that the effects of such messages on political engagement is rather positive. This article analyzes the effects that media and campaign messages had on civic engagement of young people during the 2012 Mexican presidential election in the light of mobilization and media malaise theories, by using multiple regression analysis with data from the National Survey of Political Culture of the Youth 2012. [n general, the results of the analysis lend more support to the mobilization theories than to theories of media malaise.

PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE FORMATION OF YOUTH CIVIL POSITION IN THE PEDAGOGICAL PROCESS

Emphasizing the social value of the democratic state and civic society, the authors of the publication have updated the theoretical nuances of attitudes towards citizenship of young people as well as the formation of civic position and empirical findings in the field of civic engagement and promotion opportunities. The objective of publication is: basing on the theoretical understanding of the dimensions of the citizenship formation, to characterize the manifestations of civic attitudes of 9th grade students in the pedagogical process and to assess the practical aspects of the formation of civic position through approbation of upbringing and educational program in ensuring young people's civic engagement.

See Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Sarah Palin Run? Party, Ideology, and the Influence of Female Role Models on Young Women

Previous research suggests that women’s descriptive representation may have a role-model effect on young women, encouraging them to greater levels of political participation. Using data from the Monitoring the Future Survey and the National Survey of Political and Civic Engagement of Young People, we examine whether highly visible female role models like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Sarah Palin, and viable female candidates for governor and senator had a role-model effect on young women. At the national level, we find some evidence of a role-model effect resulting from the election of Speaker Pelosi and the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton, but the effects are largely concentrated among young women who are Democratic and liberal. We find little evidence that Sarah Palin’s vice-presidential run had a role-model effect on young women, regardless of party or ideology. Our state-level analysis of viable female gubernatorial and senatorial candidates finds that role-model effects on young women and men are mediated in different ways by ideology and, to a lesser extent, party.

La pedagogía social en la vida cotidiana de los jóvenes: Problemáticas específicas y alternativas de futuro en un mundo globalizado

This article focuses the discussion on the challenges that Social Pedagogy must assume in order to increase young people's civic engagement in the globalized world in which we live, putting an emphasis on their everyday reality. Taking into consideration that being young in a network society can have multiple meanings, five key transitions are analysed with the aim of making a socio-pedagogic (re)interpretation of the youth condition: from object of attention to subject of social action; from the approach to the needs to the recognition of abilities; from education to work as fundamental rights; from family dependency to civic chore; from individual actors to social network builders. Within this framework, suggestions are proposed to generate new pedagogical and social opportunities for young people, who are fully involved -in their capacity as free and responsible citizens- in the creation of a more sustainable, fair and equitable world.

Creating Effective Civic Engagement Policy for Adolescents

For high school community service programs to have a positive impact on subsequent civic engagement, students must volunteer in a sustained manner and must evaluate their volunteering experiences positively. Using a survey with 1,293 respondents and 100 semistructured interviews with past participants of the mandatory community service program implemented by the Ontario provincial government in 1999, the authors identify how and why students generate positive evaluations of community service requirements and whether the diversity of implementation or the mandatory nature might account for negative reactions to volunteering. The authors discuss the significance of these findings for academic debates about community service and for discussions about the ways in which public policy can promote the civic engagement of young people.

Does Citizenship Education Work? Evidence from a Decade of Citizenship Education in Secondary Schools in England

In 2002 compulsory lessons on citizenship were introduced into secondary schools in England following the recommendations of an advisory group chaired by the late Bernard Crick. This study examines if this initiative has been successful in affecting the civic engagement of young people who were exposed to the citizenship curriculum over the decade since it was introduced. It utilises a survey of 18-26 year olds conducted in 2011 and compares respondents who were exposed to the curriculum with those who were not in what is a natural experiment. The findings are that citizenship education had a positive impact on three key components of civic engagement: efficacy, political participation and political knowledge. This suggests that the reform is likely to help offset some of the trends in civic participation among young people which have shown a sharp decline in key activities like voting and voluntary activities over time. The study concludes by speculating on the likely effects of the coalition governments decision to drop citizenship education as a compulsory subject in the national curriculum in schools in 2014.

What counts as young people's civic engagement in times of accountability

What counts as young people's civic engagement in times of accountability